SUNDAY MORNING SERVICE 12h August, 2001.

Prayer mature prayer, is dominated by a sense of God.
Prayer rescues us from a preoccupation with ourselves
and pulls us into adoration of and pilgrimage to God. Peterson

Jonah 2.1-10

Last week I tried to teach you the song
'Now listen to my tale of Jonah and the whale
way down in the middle of the ocean!
Now how did he get there? Whatever did he wear?
Way down in the middle of the ocean!'
Debates have gone on over the years about this 'whale'
Maybe it wasn't a whale at all, you don't get whales in the Mediterranean;
in fact the story calls it not a whale but a great fish
but the best way to approach this story is not to do research
as to whether other people have survived being swallowed by fish
but to accept it as a miracle
entirely consistent with the character of the God of the Bible.
Water does not normally turn into wine
but once it did in a wedding at Cana of Galilee.
People dead for four days don't normally walk out of a tomb
but Lazarus did when Jesus called him.
5 loaves and 2 fish don't normally feed 5000 people
but they did when Jesus took them.
The question that strikes me looking at c 2 is not
'How did he get there? Whatever did he wear?'
but 'How ever did he pray? Is that what you and I would say?
Way down in the middle of the ocean!'
Isn't this a miracle also given Jonah's track record in c 1
that in c 2 he can pray with such faith and thanksgiving?

Now of course Jonah did not actually write this prayer out
in the belly of the whale;
what we have here is his record written afterwards of what he prayed
as he went through such an awesome near death experience
5 -6
'The engulfing waters threatened me, the deep surrounded me;
seaweed was wrapped around my head.
To the roots of the mountains I sank down;
the earth beneath barred me in forever.
But you brought my life up from the pit, O LORD my God.'
As we look closely at the wording
we get a clue as to how Jonah could have expressed such thoughts
even in the stomach of a big fish
The prayer is soaked in the Psalms.
(You can see that if you have a bible with margin references.)
This is an example of someone under pressure
able to express himself to God in words previously memorised.

Just the other day at Mrs McKee's funeral in her house
we sang the 23rd Psalm without printed words,
something that had not been planned earlier.
Sadly there not that many songs that people now can sing
without a lot of preparation
but that is an example that may help illustrate what Jonah was doing.
A funeral is not as stressful as three days and nights in a fish
but it is not an easy occasion.
And it is good to have spiritual resources to draw upon.
Thank God for familiar landmarks like the 23rd Psalm

Jonah's prayer demonstrates three spiritual resources which we need
for faith that can cope even in the depths.
1. WORSHIP TOGETHER
2. REGULAR READING OF GOD'S WORD, ESPECIALLY THE PSALMS
3. ONGOING LIFE OF PRAYER

These three are like anchors or a three legged stool;
we need each of them and all of them together.

1 WORSHIP TOGETHER
4 'I said, `I have been banished from your sight;
yet I will look again toward your holy temple.'
7 "When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, LORD,
and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple.'

Jonah echoes the passion of the psalmist in Psalm 42
who lives off memories of going with the crowd
leading the procession to the house of God

In our Protestant concern for the individual's relationship with God
(which is a right concern)
we make the mistake of downgrading the importance of public worship.
Certainly it is true that going to church by itself will not save you
but being part of God's people regularly is essential to our spiritual health.
What we do together on Sundays is not the be all and end all of faith
but it is an essential anchor.
In the belly of the whale Jonah thought about his times in the temple;
What a strength it can be in hospital or in other times of stress
to have positive memories of worship times with other.
I may have told you before of our experience of the Enniskillen bomb.
It is not an easy thing to get news that 6 people you knew well are dead
and that others had seriously injuries.
What did we do that Sunday night?
We gathered together in the Enniskillen Presbyterian church
and sang hymns and prayed and wept.
I don't remember much of what was said that night
but I do remember the strength of being together as God's people.

WORSHIP TOGETHER
REGULAR READING OF GOD'S WORD, ESPECIALLY THE PSALMS
'However did he pray? Is that what you or I would say?
Way down in the middle of the ocean.'
Jonah clearly found words to express his prayer
based on what he had taken in over the years
what he had read, marked and inwardly digested
(to quote an old prayer).

Just as our computers can only give us quality help
depending on the quality of the data inputted
You know the saying 'Rubbish in, rubbish out'
so our minds need the programming of God's word
taken in day by day over the years.
Psalm 1 reminds us that the person is truly blessed
who meditates on God's law day and night.
How much of the Bible are we taking in on a daily basis?
How much compared to all the other stuff we take in?

There are no regulations in the Bible as to how much we should read each day;
otherwise we would get proud or guilty
according to how we had met or failed to meet the daily target.
But I am sure that there is probably none of us here including myself
who does not need to read more than we do presently.

Some of you may know the UCB 'Word for Today' booklets.
They give a bible verse and a comment for each day and can be most helpful.
But if we are to grow spiritually we need more than that.
Scripture Union has a variety of bible reading plans
which will take you eventually through the Bible
over a period of years at different levels of approach.
Or there are selections of readings.
The main thing is to establish a practice of daily intake of God's word:
sometimes it may not mean very much, you may feel no different;
at other times, especially times of difficulty
you may find the passage of the day alive with relevance.
But always remember there may come the time when like Jonah
you are in a place where you cannot read, and you cannot go to public worship
and you will either be glad
that you have scriptures memorised and treasured in your mind and heart
or you will be struggling to pray and spiritually inarticulate.

WORSHIP TOGETHER
REGULAR READING OF GOD'S WORD, ESPECIALLY THE PSALMS
ONGOING LIFE OF PRAYER
When we are disciplined about regular worship together and daily bible reading
then we shall find that Paul's command to pray constantly
becomes easier to carry out.
We shall find that everyday situations will have moments
when we can pause and pray.
We shall find that even times of difficulty will become triggers to prayer
and times of blessing moments of thanksgiving.
We shall find that there's no place from which we can't pray to God -

e.g, after reading the paper watching a programme
to reflect for a moment before God about what we heard
thank him for what was good, ask for cleansing from what was not good.
In moments of frustration, at traffic lights,
to use the time in quiet praise & prayer
In the middle of activities where we have to concentrate
driving, cutting vegetables.
to be aware of God's presence his love like sunshine on us
Let me challenge you on these resources
worship together, taking in the Bible, ongoing prayer:
which is under used by you?
Can you see if you are struggling e.g. in ongoing prayer
maybe you need more commitment to both worship with others and to the Bible?
I think Jonah's example of being soaked in the Psalms
says to me that I need more of the Psalms in my daily intake of scripture
and not just the psalms I know and like
but the ones I am less familiar with
the ones that speak to our dark side, our struggles, our failures
that will stretch our spiritual muscle and challenge our cosy assumptions
to nourish our worship together and our personal prayer lives.

'However did he pray? Is that what you or I would say?
Way down in the middle of the ocean.'

Sometimes August becomes a bit of a flat time.
Our holidays are gone or we never got any;
it's all a bit dull before the autumn activities kick in.
Maybe our spiritual lives seem a bit flat too.
This then is the time to spiritually recharge:
time to read more, perhaps through the Psalms or a whole gospel
time to meditate and memorise
before the storms come and the waters seem to close over our heads

Thank you
for the joy and support of fellowship
we remember hose deprived of it, in prison, in hospital under persecution
for the power of your word
help us to take it in ways that we can appreciate it, to treasure it and share it
and may our whole lives be lives of prayer shaped by our word

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly
as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom,
and as you sing praise with gratitude in your hearts to God.